Enjoy your stay! if you have a question or problem please contact one of the staff member's and we will do our best to assist you. You can also use the Forum how-to information for common questions on using the site, but for anything related to weapons, please feel free to post the question and one of the members or staff will try to answer it.

Brass vs. Steel Cased Ammo – An Epic Torture Test

Four brand new AR15's and 10,000 rounds for each rifle. The shocking news is if you shoot federal ammunition you get zero malfunctions in 10,000 rounds, and accuracy that's just fine, but if you shoot the cheap Russian ammo, your barrel will turn into a smooth bore in under 6,000 rounds and will require replacement.

There are two major types of centerfire rifle cartridges available on the market today:

Those which are loaded with steel, and

Those which are loaded with brass

This seemingly simple variation has caused a never ending stream of
argument, discussion, speculation, and questioning from new and seasoned
shooters alike. Complicating the
conversation are other variables that typically get lumped into the
argument without proper segmentation, such as:

The different coating options available on the steel-cased ammo (lacquer or polymer)

The different projectile loadings available (copper jacketed lead,
the bi-metal coating that most Russian manufacturers use, etc)

The different propellant (gunpowder) burn rates

Our team decided to try something ambitious and daunting: to
provide the best resource and data available to answer these questions
once and for all through objective experimentation and observation.

We realize this is a lofty and borderline arrogant goal. We’ve done our best. Please keep reading to see if you agree.

Here’s what we did:

We acquired four identical Bushmaster AR-15 rifles.
We chose the Bushmaster MOE Series AR-15 because it’s a widely
available, affordable, and mass-market. We didn’t want something too
cheap and of lower quality or something too expensive and of high
quality since our goal is to help the most number of people.

We acquired 10,000 rounds each of the following ammunition (new production):